The United States has sought to reach out to Russia over its plans to establish a missile base in eastern Europe.

Its move comes one day after the foreign ministry in Moscow warned it would use "military-technical means" to allay the threat it believes the proposed missile sites poses.

The US claims its missile defence shield, to be installed in the Czech Republic, is necessary to protect against attacks from the Middle East.

White House spokesperson Gordon Johndroe was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying: "We seek strategic cooperation on preventing missiles from rogue nations like Iran from threatening our friends and allies.

"We will continue to have a dialogue with the Russians. We want to design a system between the US, Russia and Europe, with everyone participating as equal partners."
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